Shadows of the Past

I walked up a desert mountain, the path very steep. I remember thinking that a few thousand years ago, I'd have considered this beneath me, that it was not my place to walk up dusty mountain trails, but my attitudes had changed.

As I walked I noticed traces of snakes, a special species that was discerning enough to pick out royalty from a crowd and kill it, if ordered to do so by the desert. As I came to a plateau, I flashed back to the last time I'd been to this place- then, I'd been dressed in disguise as a commoner to witness a barbaric act I'd been forced to agree too. I'd witnessed a sacrifice of peasants inside a Stonehenge-type stone circle to commemorate the death of Caesar. The snakes had come for me, but I'd avoided them and not returned since.

Coming back to the present, I noted that the plateau was empty this time, save for two men. One was dressed in business casual, his blond, waved hair styled neatly, and was looking down off the plateau with a disinterested, disdainful expression. The other was dark haired, dressed in a formal suit with a deep purple shirt and two red roses in hand.

I straightened up, brushed dust off my long, white dress, and walked forward on gold sandals. Bangles clinked around my ankles, and I wore a large ring and matching bracelet - gold, inset with sapphires and desert glass. As I walked to stand between the two men, I set my hands on the barrier that blocked off the edge of the cliff, and looked down onto a lower plateau with a carved moat (spikes in the bottom) all around it. The Stonehenge circle sat atop, filling the entire flattened space. As I looked to the blond man, his dress changed to that of a Grecian Military commander. Sunlight glinted off the sculpted silver abdomen of his armour and offset the dyed cotton tunic he wore beneath. He looked to me and smiled sadly.

"It's been a long time, Cleo. You're looking well."

"Same to you, Octavian. You haven't aged a day."

The brunette stayed silent, though I noticed his clothes had changed to those of Grecian senators. White and red billowed in the thin desert breeze but he didn't notice. He seemed transfixed by the stone circle, unable to look away.

"My name is Augustus, I haven't been Octavian for a long time. That man died with Antony."
I turned away to look back at the circle, and noticed military men were setting themselves in front of stones. Twelve men in total, a ring of eight and a ring of four, the silver studs on their leather armour gleaming like stars in a velvet sky. This time, I looked to the brunette, confused. He kept his eyes on the circle.

"What is happening?" I asked.

"A sacrifice to make right the wrongs of the past. My past, your past, his past, and an offering to the souls lost for our causes."

"More death won't bring Julius back, nor will it revive Marc. They're gone, I'm sure more sorrow will not coax their souls to return."

"Perhaps not, but I need to try. I need to apologize."

I watched as the warriors knelt and began to pray to Ceasar and Antony. I took in a sharp breath as they 

were all simultaneously shot with arrows through their throats. The men fell, their blood flooding the bare stone, and they were absorbed into Stonehenge. 

I turned to Brutus and put my hand on his shoulder, hoping he'd finally found peace, then I turned to Octavian.

"I've never apologized to you, Cleo," he said. "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this. Neither Ceasar nor Antony deserved their fates."

"We have not suffered these years to dwell in the past. Let us move on, with no more regret."